Seth - 4 years 3 months old!

I really should write these on the closest Sunday or something because I keep getting further and further behind.

I feel like Seth has progressed a lot this month on separating from me a little bit more.  Since we moved, he basically doesn't want to leave the house.  After reading a book, I decided to try lots and lots of praise as well as a point system.  Basically, every time he went somewhere willingly and happy and came home happy he got 2 pts - more if it was something really hard for him.  At first, I wasn't really sure if it would work, but one day on the way to Play Date, I told him how exciting it was to get points, how he could use them for video game time - in fact, if he was in the big kid room he could play video games while he was earning points to get to play video games.  Somehow, this was like a turning point for Seth and now he has worked so hard to earn points.  He loves to tell how many he has - like "I have seven seven" - that means 14.  He doesn't actually want to use them for anything; he just likes knowing that he has them.  Now, he goes willingly to Sunbeams, PlayDate, soccer, etc.  We haven't tried preschool yet because due to illness and other things, he hasn't been in like a month.  Yay!

New things this month - soccer.  This has been an adventure.  We have been anticipating signing him up for soccer probably as soon as we knew we were moving to Greenville.  And he's been excited.  Until it was actually time to go.  He has a game or practice every Saturday - the first two Saturdays were practices and now he has had two games.  His coach, Luigi, is a little flightly.  We got a text and then when Katsu went to practice with the boys, he went to the field that the coach said.  After two weeks, it finally dawned on us that Seth has been practicing with the wrong team because that coach was a woman (and one of Katsu's colleagues, to boot) and probably not Luigi.  So, we text Luigi apologizing and trying to get info for the game.  We go to the field, and it is the wrong team again!  We finally find the right team, but so far Seth still has no shirt and the coach has been late every time.  I feel like we don't have a clue what is going on.  The second practice, Seth refused to play and Katsu brought the boys home with everyone grumpy.  But points to the rescue, and Seth has played both his first two games (even with a new team!) and done well and enjoyed himself.  And the first game was in the rain!  He plays well, works well with his teammates, and has even scored a couple goals, which he found very excited.  He is probably one of the better players on his team.  The league is really non-competitive (they don't even keep score and they randomly assign teams, though they do keep track of who makes goals to even things out) and I think it is a lot of  fun.

Otherwise, we have just been busy still trying to get settled into the new neighborhood.  We put a big climbing dome in the back and between that and the sand box and scooters and new bikes (slowly teaching the boys 2 wheelers without training wheels), they spend quite a bit of time outdoors, especially afternoons/evenings/weekends when other kids are out.  Seth loves his scooter.  He also LOVES gardening and has enjoyed digging holes for us to plant plants and trees.  He likes picking "sunflowers" on our walks and pointing out all the ECU flags and pirate things.  He desperately wants a playset in our backyard.  He also really wants an ECU flag for our house.

Otherwise, things are mostly normal with Seth.  He wants to spend LOTS of time with me and no matter how much he gets it is never enough.  He does not want to attend any sort of preschool and is always telling me why he doesn't need to go "I can already count to infinity, so I don't need to go", "I can watch the Meet the Sight Words DVD and I'll be ready for kindergarten and don't need to go to preschool", etc.  It's really funny.  Hopefully, he'll want to go to kindergarten next year.  We're mostly dealing with the 4 year old blues (whining, fits).  It always cracks me up because he is always like, "If you don't do this, I will melt down", or "throw a fit" or "explode".  Very calmly.  So funny.  And the middle child blues.  Poor kid.

Fun Things This Month
- Preschool, sort of.  Seth has gone twice, but with me both times and refused to leave or take off his shoes.  He was finally getting settled into the idea of it and said he would let me drop him off, and we have been sick every week since then.  It's a cute coop with other people from church.
- Several days at Play Date.  Seth is finally starting to enjoy it ... mostly.  He has always refused to let me bring a lunch for him, having several meltdowns over it, but he usually "shares" Seth's.  This week, he asked Lexi, the girl who is usually working there, "Hey, will there be any of that sandwich left for me to eat?"
- Trying out a new babysitter.  The boys really liked here, so hopefully we can have her watch them occasional afternoons for me and also for date night.
- Having friends over for dinner and going other places for dinner.
- Beach! Another trip to Atlantic Beach for Labor Day.  This time we went to Fort Macon State Park and saw the fort first.  The boys loved it and the beach afterwards was very nice as well.
- Soccer.
- Next door neighbor's water birthday party.  Boys loved it.
- Ward party.  Seth had lots of fun and made new friends.
- Two sicknesses.  A cold and a stomach bug.
- Talk like a Pirate Day at Krispy Kreme.  Seth talked about it for weeks - Krispy Kreme is right across from my school, so we saw it there when we went after getting a parking pass one day.  Seth wore his pirate apparel (hat, eye patch, and hook) and got a free dozen donuts.  What a great day!
- Dinner with the missionaries

Andrew is older.

Another month.  Andrew is 6 years 4 months old.  The big news this month is starting school.  Andrew is attending Ridgewood Elementary and is in Mrs. Brinson's class.  She seems pretty nice and I've heard she is pretty strict - she seems that way.  But I think it is a good combination at this age, anyways.  A couple girls from the neighborhood are in his class, including our neighbor, so I think that has helped.  Andrew seems to like his class and school.  He isn't the kind of kid to tell every detail as soon as he gets home.  He always comes home itching to play, but if you listen carefully, you can get quite a few details from the day.

I went in and met with his teacher.  I think mostly so she can show me the testing they do for reading.  Andrew is on or above grade level for everything except for identifying sounds - like lake is l - A - k.  I think maybe he just wasn't familiar with what they were asking because he does it fine at home.  I think how they test their reading level is a bit much.  They read a story and they are given a piece of paper with the question on it and the kids reads the question and writes the answer done.  The teacher can say nothing.  It seems a bit intense for 1st grade, but what do I know.  Andrew couldn't move up a reading level because he didn't answer part of the question (he didn't explain why).  I find that kind of hilarious for 1st grade.

Andrew has also started homework this week.  He is taking it pretty seriously, which is great.  Spelling homework takes forever as does his reading log (which has to answer big questions in complete sentences!) because he is still taking quite a bit of time to write all his letters.  Hopefully, it will speed up through the year.  He just blows through his math homework and reads through his books super fast, too.  He had his first spelling test and he got a 100 today.

Andrew takes the walking school bus to and from school.  School starts so early, like 7:55, so he needs to be out waiting for the "bus" by 7:20 or so.  The "bus" consists of 2 or 3 parents in yellow vests leading a group of children through the neighborhood and then to school.  And the same on the way home.  It seemed a bit much to me at first, but I actually think it's a great idea.  It's safer than the kids just walking by themselves (there are a lot of cars on the street), but I don't have to go every day, which can be a pain because Seth never wants to go and Logan is sometimes still napping.  Andrew gets out of school at 2:15.  So, we just have to go one afternoon a week.  In the mornings, Katsu walks him across the street to the "bus" stop and me and Logan sit on the porch and wave and watch the kids go and then Katsu goes to work.  Seth is still sleeping, usually.  It is a pain to get Andrew ready in time, but it has always been a pain to get Andrew ready in time to go anywhere - even with hours notice.  Andrew just takes his time.  Invariably, we are all waiting outside for Andrew, and I'll go inside to find him and he will be standing at the top of the stairs mooning me and saying "Is it okay, Mom?".  Like seriously, you've been wiping fine for years.  I don't want to see your bare behind.  Oh, well.

Andrew has a snack and a recess each morning, but no recess with lunch.  They have reading time and writing and spelling and math every day and also science and social studies.  Reading is in two parts with a part with the whole class and then also meeting with a smaller group with special reading teachers as well for everyone divided into groups based on levels.  He has PE twice a week and then music, art, and library/computer (I think it alternates weeks) once a week.  He hasn't talked much about them yet.

Andrew hasn't told many details about school.  I know he gets dojo points whenever he does something well.  He has 20 points now.  A few girls have more than him, but apparently you can also get negative points when you misbehave and some kids are like -11 already!  Wow.

Andrew wears a uniform to school.  He was hesitant in the beginning, but I actually think it is really nice and easy.  He can wear a white, blue, black, or purple collared shirt on top and black, khaki, or blue shorts / pants on bottom.  The only thing that is tricky is no cargo pants, so that took out several we already had.  Andrew really wants some purple shirts, but try finding those for boys.  Tricky, even in a town where the color is purple (ECU).

Andrew's school is about 50% black, 40% white, and 10% other, so the demographics are very different than in St. Louis, where the suburbs are white white white.  Though his school "imported" some black kids from the center of the city in St. Louis.  Some of the kids have really crazy names.  It's pretty funny.  There is like one other Asian family we saw and they came up and talked to us at open house.  I thought that was kind of funny, but then I realized it was because the man knew Katsu from work.

Andrew got a new bike this week (well, new to us), an Iron Man two wheeler, so I am trying to convince him to learn to ride without training wheels.  We'll see - he is still not convinced.  I thought because the walking school bus has Thursdays as scooter/bike day he would be interested, but not yet.  I bet when Seth is riding his well, Andrew will suddenly be very interested, though.

Fun Things This Month

• A few play dates. 
• Lots of ECU picnics.  One at a lake beach while they loved playing in the sand.  And hot dogs and chips - what could be better?  
• Birthday party for a neighbor at the mall bouncy house.  Wow - it was a little crazy, but the boys had so much fun.  Logan would go on the big ones and go down the slides with his older brothers.
• A couple times at Play Date - a drop in child center.  Andrew loved the video games and bounce house, but was not so interested in having to look out for Logan, but he did, because he is a good brother.
• Going to Chic-fil-A several times and out for ice cream thanks to our realtor.
• Winterville Watermelon Festival - we watched the parade -  And then we rode rides.  We had to go get our new car, so we didn't have time to watch any of the concerts, but next year.
• Our first dinner party.  And a cookout the next night with friends.  Andrew convinced us we had to invite his friend over from church, so we did - even though they have 7 kids!  It was actually great fun and we'll have to have him over for play dates.  He doesn't live too far; he is homeschooled, but I think otherwise, they would go to our school.
• Back to school night - Andrew was a little nervous at first, but we met everyone.
• Another trip to Atlantic Beach for Labor Day.  This time we went to the Fort Macon State Park and we saw the fort first.  The boys loved it.  Andrew is so enthralled with forts, so it was fun.  And the beach is always lots of fun.
• Andrew started soccer.  He seems to really enjoy it so far, at least when he is there, and he plays the whole time and doesn't whine and take two million water breaks like some of the other boys.  He doesn't run as hard or kick as hard as the other boys - I don't think he really gives it as much intensity - but he is doing pretty well.  He has Saturday practices (the first few weeks) and then games, plus a weekday practice and a couple weekday games at the end.  We'll see how the season goes.

Logan is 22 months old!

I can't believe he is almost two - although if you look at his size, almost everyone thinks he is well beyond that.

Logan has been kind of sick the last day or two and has been really emotional.  He wants me ALL the time.  I mean, normally he wants me all the time, but now he REALLY wants me all the time.  And then, he cried for several minutes when Katsu came home from work yesterday.  That was ... unusual.  I think he might have picked up a bug from our dinner guests on Sunday.  Hopefully it passes quickly.

Logan is talking more.  He still says "car" for many things, but he is copying the words I say, especially sounds.  He is also is saying many words more clearly.  And this morning he said "I love mama" which was very sweet.  I can see a lot of progress from last month, so I am not as worried.  I should probably find him a pediatrician this month and then we can see what they say.

Logan still loves swimming and the beach.  He has gotten the hang of a life jacket pretty well, so he doesn't have to cling to me the whole time we are at the pool.  He likes the sandbox and playing with chalk and walking around with his trike - still hasn't quite figured out pedals.  He loves to go outside and is always asking.  In the morning, he likes to go out and say good-bye to Andrew as Andrew takes the walking school bus to school.  The first few days, especially when I tagged along, were very emotional for Logan, but he has gotten over that.  He also likes to be out there when Andrew comes home, too.

Logan has started to get into play more.  He especially loves train tracks and racing cars down the race track.  The first thing he wants to do when he wakes up is go to the play room now and play with cars.  He is always carrying cars around and taking them downstairs and dropping them everywhere.  We are totally going to have to refinish the wood when the boys are grown - oh, well.

Logan loves to be read to, especially books about trucks or Thomas books, which he finds and brings to me at the library - even when we already own a copy at home.

Logan is getting a little more picky about eating.  He LOVES cheese and cans of oranges and is always bringing them to me from the pantry and fridge.  He also picks all the berries out of the fridge and wants to eat whole pints of blueberries in one sitting.  He likes crackers and cereal and bread some.  He LOVES edamame - that is all he would eat for dinner today.  He usually eats pretty well.

He is having some tantrums.  He still screams quite a bit, but I feel like that is getting a bit better.

Fun Things This Month

Atlantic Beach - Logan had so much fun playing with Katsu, making sand castles, hunting for sea animals and shells, collecting sea weed, and just loving the waves and the water.  He is mostly happy to sit on shore and play in the sand.  We went a second time for Memorial Day.  First, we explored the Fort Macon state park.  Logan got bored and kept wanting to climb up to the top to look out at the ocean.  He loved the beach.  He finally got pooped out around 2:30 and feel asleep in my lap sitting as the waves were coming in.  I had to keep scooching back so he wouldn't get drowned in the incoming tide.

• A few play dates.  Logan is always game for playing with other friends.
• Lots of ECU picnics.  One at a lake beach while they loved playing in the sand.  And hot dogs and chips - what could be better?  
• Birthday party for a neighbor at the mall bouncy house.  Wow - it was a little crazy, but the boys had so much fun.  Logan would go on the big ones and go down the slides with his older brothers.
• Many days at Play date - this is a drop in child care center.  Logan is getting better and better every time - a little teary when I leave and when I get back, but we talk about it inbetween and he says that he has fun.  He gets excited about going - but the separation from me is hard.  He goes on Wed. morning when I teach and maybe an occasional other time.
• Going to Chic-fil-A several times and out for ice cream thanks to our realtor.
• Winterville Watermelon Festival - we watched the parade - Logan loved the trucks and running to get candy.  He was very cautious about not getting in the way - it was so cute.  And then we rode rides - Logan got to ride on the train and seemed to really enjoy it.  He was too small for everything else and was a little jealous the boys got to go on the bigger rides.  We had to go get our new car, so we didn't have time to watch any of the concerts, but next year.
• Preschool - Logan has been tagging along to Seth's coop preschool and joins in a few things.  I think after this, Seth will be okay being by himself and we can have some one on one time.
• Our first dinner party.  And a cookout the next night with friends.  Logan had a blast playing in their water table.

Seth is 4 years 2 months old.

A day late and probably short because it is my birthday.

Seth is still having a little bit of a tough time transitioning to living here.  I think it will probably take him about 6 months before he is really settled ... he just takes time to get used to things.  A few examples.

He still doesn't want to go to Sunbeams.  I have gone to all of Sharing Time / Music Time almost every week.  This week, even with me dragging him, he refused to go, so he can and sat with me until 11:30, when he finally decided my meetings were too boring and went to Sunbeams.  He likes it when he's there, but getting him there ... His Sunbeam class seems to fluctuate a lot.  Some weeks there are like 8 or 9 kids, today there was 3.  There are only a couple other boys (none other today) and lots of girls, and I think that makes it a little harder for Seth because he isn't too interested in girls.  He starts preschool with a couple of them (just a church coop once a week) this week and maybe that will eventually improve things.

Also, babysitting.  So, I am working now a little bit - like 5 hours a week.  I had a couple of faculty meetings so I needed to take the kids to a drop in child care place called Play Date.  Seth seemed to mostly enjoy it, but didn't want to go the second time.  Well, he went and seemed to be having fun, but when I go to pick him up, I guess he didn't want to leave, so when the ladies went to get him he starts screaming and punching them (geez - they must really want us to come back).  I had to take him home kicking and screaming, throwing his shoes, etc.  He finally calmed down, but wow!

What is Seth loving this month?  Pool time.  He keeps asking for swimming lessons, though.  Playing with the neighbors.  Going fast on his scooter.  Playing Lego Star Wars video game with Dad after he cleans up and does his chores.  Reading lessons.  Visiting the library.  Doing chores - he does 3 chores for me every day (although some days, we're lazy and cleaning take a back seat).  He does an alright job at mopping the floors, a good job with the little vacuum, an okay job at cleaning sinks, great at unloading the dishwasher, good at feeding joe, alright at dusting, and is pretty game to do almost anything.  If he does his chores, there is usually a reward - like computer or TV time, though honestly we haven't done tons of either since we moved.  He loves the new soccer goals, digging in the sand box, playing in the yard.  Meeting loads and loads of 4 year olds in the neighborhood.  He's spent loads and loads of time upstairs with Andrew playing massive wars with Trio, blocks, army, and lincoln logs.  Listening to tons and tons of Doraemon books with Katsu.  Looking at Doraemon books constantly.

Seth is still a nervous child, always chewing on things, whining, crying.  But a sweet and good child.  Easily embarrassed, but sweet to the core.

Fun Things This Month

• Unpacking!  Okay, not really.
• Lots and lots of pool time.
• Atlantic Beach - Seth had so much fun running in the water, playing with Katsu, making sand castles, hunting for sea animals and shells, collecting sea weed, and just loving the waves and the water.
• A few play dates.  Really loved playing with one of Katsu's colleagues kids - they are Japanese.
• Lots of ECU picnics.  One at a lake beach while they loved playing in the sand.  And hot dogs and chips - what could be better?  Seth got hurt at one party and then cried his head off until we found Cartoon Network and ice cream inside.
• Birthday party for a neighbor at the mall bouncy house.  Wow - it was a little crazy, but the boys had so much fun.  Seth loved to bounce and bounce and bounce.
• A couple days at Play date.
• Going to Chic-fil-A several times and out for ice cream thanks to our realtor.
• Winterville Watermelon Festival - we watched the parade and Seth got loads of candy and then we rode rides - Seth rode on the train, a strawberry ride (tea-cup type ride) and then a mini roller-coaster.  We had to go get our new car, so we didn't have time to watch any of the concerts, but next year.

Andrew is 6 years 3 months old!

Well, hmmm ... another month, and now we are in our new house in Greenville.  So, a month of change for Andrew.  He was not so happy about moving, but I think it has been ups and downs since we moved.  He LOVES the beach and the pool.  He likes digging around outside.  It was becoming a bit of a mess, so we (meaning the royal we, or Katsu) built a sandbox and hopefully that will satisfy the digging urge for awhile.  He loves playing with his scooter.  I have been trying to get him to learn to ride his bike without training wheels, but that is a no-go.  I think he likes having a backyard to play in and all the space of the house.

Last Sunday, we gave cookies to some of our neighbors and ended up having a get-together with a whole bunch of kids.  Andrew thought it was the BEST thing ever and couldn't wait to play with everyone again.  Unfortunately, most of the kids aren't around during the day, so we haven't had a replay since then.  We just need to get to know some of the other kids in the neighbrohood.  I know I see kids running around and surely some of them are his age.  Andrew really wants friends, but of course, that will just take some time.

Andrew starts school in two weeks.  We went and registered him.  He is a little nervous about it - I just really hopes he gets a great teacher that he clicks with.  He gets mad about having to wear uniforms, but I think it is just nerves and he will get used to it.  I think being able to walk to school will be really really great.

We were going to the pool almost every day, especially when Katsu was out of town in Vail and we were unpacking.  Last week, we were busy trying to get all the odds and ends done before Katsu starts back to work.  So, it wasn't a lot of fun - too many trips to Target and Lowes and too much cleaning and unpacking.  That is finally starting to slow down.  We did try to take some time to have fun.  We went to beach - Atlantic Beach.  Andrew loved going out with Katsu deep in the water (not too deep, but too deep for Logan), looking for shells, building big sand castles, and trying to find sea creatures.  He was disappointed that we didn't see any dolphins (although I think he was relieved not to find any sharks - he has been nervous about that).

Andrew seems to have adjusted well to Primary and even wants to invite a few boys over.  If only I knew who they were ... I'll have to figure that one out.

We just got bunk beds for the boys.  That was a little bit of drama - of course, as soon as they were delivered - "I don't want bunk beds."  "I want bunk beds that come apart".  "I want my own room."  Seriously - when we were at the store, you were only interested in climbing up as fast as you could any and all furniture.  Oh, well.  They have adjusted pretty well and picked out Justice Leagues sheet sets.  So, it's fun.  Andrew still wanders into Logan's room most nights where I am usually sleeping by around 2 or 3.  He'll eventually get it, right?  As a teenager I am sure he will sleep in his own bed all night long ... and probably long into the morning as well.

Andrew still has a huge attitude.  I think this is just a big part of him.  Lately, his favorite thing to say whenever he has been "wronged" is - "I won't ever give you a present again".  Which I usually follow with "The only present I ever want from you is obedience."  He also likes to threaten us with whatever we can.  And then the other half of the time, our Jekyll/Hyde is all sweetness.  He helps around the house and is kind.  Silly boy.

Anyways ... my cold came back, so as I hack out a lung that is all I can think of.

Fun Things This Month:

• Play date with friends while we got ready to move and packed the truck.  The last one involved swimming and he did not want to leave.  
• MOVING.  (MO -> IL -> TN -> NC)
• Playing with grandma and grandpa while we closed the house and unpacked the moving truck.  The boys loved exploring their hotel with Grandpa the best, I think.  
• Playing at Sonic playground.  I think they are in paradise here because all Sonics have outdoor playgrounds and their are Chick-fil-a's everywhere with nice playgrounds.
• Pool most days.
• Museum of Natural Sciences in Raleigh.  We had to go to pick up Katsu and I figured 3 hours in the car would not be fun, so we stopped here for 2 hours.  It was just enough time to see everything.  The boys LOVED it - especially the real animals (snakes!) and the dinosaur bones.  We'll have to go again.
• Atlantic Beach.  LOVED it.  Closer to 1.5 hours than 1 away, but I have a feeling we will be back along.  We need a beach umbrella and some more sunscreen!!!  Thankfully the boys didn't get burns.
• Building a sandbox.
• Enjoying giftcards to Chick-fil-a and Coldstone from our realtor.  Welcome to Greenville.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

Logan is 21 months old!

Man - I really wrote this closer to the right time.  Somehow it didn't post!!!  Here is about Logan.

Late again ... I guess that's what happens when you move and are getting all situated.  This was another busy and crazy month for Logan.  Packing, moving, unpacking, etc.  But I think he is mostly getting used to North Carolina now.  How quickly to switch over a routine at this age.  Logan LOVES having his own room to sleep in.  When it's time to go to bed, he runs over to his room and shuts the door (with me with him, of course) and then finds his Thomas blanket and his Mickey stuffed animal and then lays down.  He only nurses before bed now (yay!) and then he goes to sleep.  I think he might be starting to get a comfort object, because this morning he wanted to carry around his Thomas blanket.  He wakes up a couple times at night.  Once around 10 and then again around 3.  He wakes up pretty early in the morning and sometimes will go back to sleep.  Otherwise, he is pretty grumpy and just screams/throws a fit for awhile.  Because we are downstairs, we sometimes don't hear him, but then he will open the door and come downstairs and screaming for us.  I found the baby monitor, though, so I can usually stop him before he gets to that point.

Logan's favorite thing about our new home:  swimming.  We have a neighborhood pool and so, since we got the key from the HOA, we have been going swimming every day.  Logan LOVES it.  As soon as he hears the word swimming - he runs to the mudroom/laundry room and takes out everyone's swimsuits and starts handing them out.  Then, he runs outside to the stroller and gets all the swim stuff together.  He LOVES the pool.  He doesn't particularly like being in his ring, but he loves when I hold him.  He likes being on the steps because he doesn't have to be held and keeps trying to go underwater like the bigger boys.  He is going to be a lot better in the water than the other boys were at that age, I am sure.

Logan also loves playing outside.  With his trike, turning on the hose, playing in the sand (no, not a sandbox, but the soil here is basically sand), the chalk, with balls.  He loves playing in the playroom, especially the kitchen which is new to Logan.  He likes to pretend to make food.  He also is loving helping me around the house - sweeping, cleaning, drying dishes, etc.

Logan is throwing fits, but not too terribly many considering his age.  He is usually happy, a peace maker, trying to make everyone happy.  He is pretty easy to please.

Logan basically uses almost no words now.  Everything is car and sometimes he'll throw in a yeah, mom, Joe, or something like that.  I hope it's just a phase and he will talk more soon, or I might need to bring it up with someone.  He does understand absolutely everything we say - he would just prefer not to really say anything.  He really enjoys being read to, as well.

Well, I'm tired, so it'll be a short post today.

Fun Things This Month

•  Parks in St. Louis
• Fourth of July - Disney store, BBQ with friends, playing at the boat and beach
• A couple free movies - Logan was bored out of his mind, but did well for about the first 45 minutes, then we wandered the back of the theatre and the hall.
• Juggling Jeff at the library.
• Having a cold
• Loading the truck - Logan was very insistent on helping and carrying boxes and things.  Threw a fit if we didn't let him.
• Driving to North Carolina.  Logan did pretty well, only got really antsy a few times and we had to stop.
• Spending lots of time with Grandma and Grandpa while we closed on the house.  Though by the last couple days they were here, he did not want to be left behind by mom and was kind of done with alone time with the grandparents.
• Hurt his wrist - we thought he might have broken it, at first, but it never seemed that severe.  It seems to kind of bother him sometimes.
• Moving into house - exploring, enjoying, etc.
• Picking up Dad in Raleigh and visiting the Natural History Museum before we picked him up at the airport.  The boys all loved it.
• Meeting all the neighbors.

Seth is 4 years 1 month old!

Another late post again.  But Seth's birthday day was the day before we closed on our new home, so we were a little busy.

This month has been a little challenging for Seth, of course.  It started out fun with his birthday party.  It was a last minute little thing, but he had the boys from preschool all there as well as one friend from church.  He had fun playing with his friends, but had a few emotional breaks.  Just generally, I think he has emotionally had a tough time lately.  Anyways, they mostly played in his room, then they had pizza on a blanket on the floor and we had his Green Lantern cupcakes.  And then we opened presents and they played with the new toys.  Seth got ... gosh, do I even remember.  He got a shark pool toy and a little Disney Little Pirates (or something like that) toy to go with it.  He got ... a couple little board books with flaps, that unfortunately Logan has already ripped all off and some balls that Logan ate part of, so those got thrown away, too.  He got a kite ... we still need to fly that.  And something else I can't recall.

Anyways, other than that, the month was busy with packing and moving.  I wanted to try to see all the things in St. Louis that we love before we move, but I ended up getting sick and that didn't really happen.  We did get to the Butterfly House and also to the movies a couple times.  Seth could not sit still during the movies and was super bored after about 45 minutes.  At which point, he says about every minute "I am bored".

That is the thing with Seth - when he feels something, he whines about it compulsively.  It drives me nuts.  He will whine for something like 20 times  a minute.  And he has been so emotional about everything lately, with the move and going to Japan and everything.  He gets upset and then runs away or else gets angry/embarrassed and starts hitting me to look not so embarrassed.  And half the time, I have no idea what he was even upset about.

Seth also gets bored pretty easy.  He can get really engrossed in something, but he has a hard time sometimes coming up with things to do.  And then he whines to watch TV or play computer games.  He also has this habit of walking into the room and saying "When will we get there".  And to think that I thought that was only for long car rides.  I hear it all the time.  He has this huge amount of things he says/does seemingly on autopilot.  Very interesting.

I think Seth is mostly enjoying our new house.  The last week was confusing, what with being farmed out to people while we packed the truck, and then driving for a couple days with Grandma and Grandpa there, but in the truck, so not seeing them much.  And then Grandma and Grandpa watching him while Katsu and I closed on the house and then bought the ten million things we then needed for the house and while we were unpacking, and then saying goodbye to both the grandparents and Katsu when Katsu left to his conference.  I think it was just a bit much for Seth.  He had a hard time at Primary on Sunday and about half way through the second hour, they brought him to me (and Logan) in Nursery because he was just sobbing.  Poor kid.  He really brightened up in Nursery and was fine after that.  Hopefully, next week, one of us can stay with him for a little while and we can see how it goes.

He likes some parts of the new house.  He is doing fine in his new room.  He loves digging holes in the backyard (which I am not thrilled about) and playing with the hose (which is forbidden, but he does like every 2 minutes and then denies it ... it drives me crazy!).  He loves the pool - we went for the first time yesterday and he is super excited about it.  And he likes being a Pirate.  He told me he is going to live in North Carolina for his entire life.  I hope so.

Fun Things This Month:

• Birthday party at our house - Green Lantern!
• Dentist appt - no cavities!
• 3 Billy Goats Gruff puppet show at the library.
• 4 year old checkup - healthy but his eyes need checking.
• Butterfly house - excited to see his friend there!
• A couple days at the park with friends from church.
• 4th of July - Disney store in the morning, which the boys think is about as fun as Disneyland (go figure) and then BBQ/Boat/Beach with his best friend Miles' family for the evening.  Seth LOVED the water and wearing his lifejacket and then playing on the beach and going down the natural water slides.  He would be happy being out in the water every day.
• Daddy date for fro-yo
• Painting tiles as part of the summer reading program.  Huge meltdown that his didn't look EXACTLY like Andrew's.  I think his ended up looking better.
• 2 free movies in the theatre - liked the popcorn, not so crazy aobut eh movies.
• Juggling Jeff at the library.
• Play date at Miles house.
• Pool party - had so much fun!
• Playing with friends and at the pool while loading the moving truck.
• MOVING.
• Exploring the new house and getting as sandy as sandy can be.
• Our neighborhood pool!

Seth’s 4 year check up

I never posted Seth’s 4 year old stats.  He is 39 inches (25%) and is up 3.5 inches this year.  He is 33 lbs (25%) and is up 4 lbs from last year.  His appointment went well – he got several shots.  They said we need to get his vision checked, but that’ll have to wait till we move, I guess.

Andrew is 6 years 2 months old!

Okay, so I’m a day late AND I missed last month’s post.  We were in Japan and I was busy and also couldn’t remember everything we’d done, so I just waited until we got home and then never got to it.  Whoops.  So here is a double dose.

This has been a couple months of change for Andrew.  We visited North Carolina and picked out a house, Grandma and Grandpa came to visit, Andrew finished up kindergarten, we took a big trip to Japan, we’ve been packing up our apartment and we are getting ready to move.  What a busy time. 

Andrew originally seemed excited about the move, but now he really does not want to go.  I think it is starting to really hit Andrew that it will be an all new place and he will have to make friends.  I thought it wouldn’t be too bad since he doesn’t really seem to have a best buddy, but just friends at school that he plays with.  But I think his school class felt like a second family, so that is making it hard for him.  He is anxious about his new school and talks a lot about not wanting to wear uniforms.  He also refuses to sign up for any new activities there.  We’ll see how it goes when we leave.

Andrew has been up and down lately.  Sometimes he is great.  He made Logan a whole book with car pictures today when Logan was inconsolable.  He loves to help us pack.  But then other times … most of the time … he is a little devil.  Arg!  I know that he is getting bored and that is part of it.  We have had basically no play dates, so aside from a couple days at the park with friends, he hasn’t had any playmates since school ended, and that has been hard.  Plus, a lot of things are packed up, so we have a limited toy selection.  Plus, he is stressed about the move.  So, maybe his behavior will improve.  I was finding myself getting more and more frustrated with him, but I am trying to be a lot more patient.  Instead of punishing him, I just have him do work – either house work or school work – when he is misbehaving to give him something to do.

Andrew hasn’t been doing a ton of school work, but I have seen a huge improvement in his handwriting just from the little work he has been doing.  He is reading pretty well, too.  I think he wants to read chapter books (those are what he picked for his summer reading club selections), but he is not quite there, yet.  He can read Level 2 books pretty well now.  I am also impressed at how well he can do addition as we have been working through his summer math packet.

Andrew seemed to really enjoy Japan and had a great time.  He definitely adjusted much better than the other two boys – he is a great traveler.  He loved all of the food … although even he got sick of the rice after a little bit.  He was the only one who wanted to eat at the hotel buffet in the morning after awhile.  He would eat several rice balls there and miso soup every morning.  Andrew also enjoyed trying to learn some of the language.  The only time Andrew really lost it on the trip was on the way home.  He finally feel asleep right at the end of our trip from Tokyo to LA.  Trying to get him through passport control, customs, security and to our next gate was AWFUL – he was crying, yelling, kicking.  But other than that, he was really a great traveler.

Andrew had a fun little birthday.  Not too many of his friends could come, but I think it ended up better that way.  Matias, Brendan, Eli, and Colin were there.  The boys played all over the playground (we had it at Tilles Park), we had pizza from Dominos, and then did the pinata.  Then, the boys kicked the soccer ball around and played some more.  Andrew got some pretty fun toys – a science experiment kit (we still have one more to do – Andrew has really enjoyed it), a bug catcher (the boys loved playing with that one at the park), a rubber band board, and a Cars camping chair.  

Andrew enjoyed picking out a house with us, I think.  I still don’t know if he is sure which house we picked out, which is kind of funny, because we visited that one like 3 times.  The boys loved checking out all the rooms – especially any attic spaces or cool things like that – and the backyards especially.  But what the boys really liked was eating out with our realtor every day.  We basically ended up eating out at Chick-Fil-A a lot with the playground and the boys LOVED it.  I think they think Chick-Fil-A equals Greenville.  It was a little stressful with all the boys, but I think it was worth it to include them.

The next week Grandma and Grandpa came to visit.  I think Andrew was a little jealous, because Seth and Logan did some fun things with them while Andrew was at school and then by the weekend it was raining and we couldn’t all fit in the car, so we ended up just sticking around Clayton and then going to the ward picnic and it wasn’t as fun.  But the boys got new scooters from Grandma and Grandpa for their birthdays so that was exciting.  They always love spending time with their grandparents.

I expected Andrew to be a little more emotional about ending school, but he wasn’t really.  The last day was a half day and then we went to a little party for Mrs. Kay.  Of course, the weather was super pouring rain, so it was an interesting last day.  We had cupcakes and said good-bye to Mrs. Kay.  It was her last year of teaching, so I feel like she had spent the last month giving us little things – anything Japanese she could find, she gave to us.  So cute.  I know Andrew misses her a little and wants to talk to her.

Andrew is so funny.  He is very insistent that he wants to live with us forever.  He will work and give us all his money so we don’t have to pay so much for our house.  But this week, he was telling me that he won’t get married or have kids since he wants to live with us forever, but that Logan should get married because Katsu and I need to have grandchildren.  So funny.

Andrew’s new favorite hobby is audio CDs.  We have picked up the A to Z Mysteries from the library and he has listened to like 12 of the chapter books or something!  We checked out 7 and have about a week or so till we need to find all the library books and take them back.

Fun Things This Month:

• Andrew’s Army birthday party at Tilles Park.
• House hunting trip to North Carolina.
• Magic House with Seth’s preschool.
• Field Day at Shaw Park.  Andrew was with his family group and really seemed to enjoy it – he wished we could have come and helped but my parents were in town.
• Grandma and Grandpa in town.  Going to the park, dinner out in Clayton, ward Memorial Day picnic, etc.
• End of school Carnival.  Andrew was initially nervous about the rides and said he wouldn’t go (I was irritated because we had spent an arm and a leg on armbands for the expensive rides), but he ended up going on lots of rides, though none of the scary ones.  Andrew was especially determined to win a cake in the cake walk and did it like 20 times before he finally won.  Most of the cakes were gone by that time, but he picked out a mud cake and brought it home and boys loved it.  It was a late evening, but Andrew had a lot of fun.  At the end of the night, he did a few rides with a girl from class, Alexa, and they were holding hands.  It was so cute.
• Last day of school and party for Mrs. Kay.
• Well check with Dr.  All good and no shots!
• TRIP TO JAPAN
• Summer reading program and events
• Celia rocks, a music performance that jet-lagged Andrew slept through
• Puppet show of 3 Billy Goats Gruff
• Juggling Jeff
• Dentist appointment – no cavities and Andrew’s first adult teeth, his 6 year old molars, are coming in.  Andrew is really excited and tells everyone he meets about the teeth coming in and is always opening his mouth wide to show me their progress.
• Butterfly house and play date with Matthew.
• Park with Gages.
• 4th of July – we went to the Disney store during the day because that is what the boys really wanted to do.  Then, we had dinner at our friends’ house and then went out on their boat.  The boys weren’t really interested in going out on the boat, so they stayed and played in the water in their lifejackets, which they LOVED.  They also spent time playing in the sand and going down some mudslides.  We saw the fireworks and then went back home, sandy but happy.  It was a really fun day.
• Daddy date to Johnny Rockets and the Disney store, which the kids almost love as much as Disneyland.
• Painting tiles at a pottery store (a reward from the summer reading program) and then playing in the water at Millenium Park.
• Free movie at the theatre – Chimpanzee.  Andrew had seen it before, but didn’t remember it much.  He really enjoyed it, but the other boys only lasted about an hour, so we went to Sonic afterwards to have fun.

Logan is 20 months old!

I am out of energy to post this, but here goes …

The main thing this month, of course, was our trip to Japan which took up almost the whole month when you include adjusting to jet lag.  I don’t know how much fun Logan had – it was quite an adjustment, but there sure were parts he liked, most especially watching all the trains go by.

Logan has also been teething his canines this whole month which has also made him cranky.  He has also gotten very clingy (probably related to the trip to Japan) and wants me with him pretty much all the time.  When we go to Nursery, he holds me in a death grip, even though we stay for the whole thing every week.  I also tried to wean him cold turkey, which didn’t go so well (mostly for me physically), but we are down to one or two times a day and that is going well and is probably fine till we move.   He still asks more often, but he knows I will say no. 

Logan is just a boy now.  He doesn’t seem too much like a baby and has seemed to outgrow all his baby things.  No more sippy cups, no more baby toys, no more baby clothes (only 2T now – the 18 months show his belly).  He still has a cute baby run, but even his baby chubbiness is fading away.  He even is starting to lean more towards non board books, as long as they have his beloved trains or trucks in them.

Logan basically wants to play one, or maybe two, things all day every day.  The train set.  He is still too little to really put the pieces together, but he will bring the pieces to you one at a time and grunt and squeal until you put it exactly where he wants it.  And then, in playing, he is constantly knocking them over, so it is building up and down and up and down for hours.  It is a little tiring.  He is so excited when the boys wake up and he can run in their room and get his train.

He also likes to play cars and run them down the race track or sometimes drive them around the house.  But only after he has exhausted his train love.

Logan is talking more, but still not tons of words.  He has all our names down and cat and Joe and no and yeah and nurse and truck and car and more and all gone.  He has cute expressions where he puts out both his hands palms up to the sides to show he can’t find something or doesn’t know something. 

Logan is still a good eater and won’t sit in a high chair (well, won’t sit anywhere confined – think shopping cart – unless it’s fun), though halfway through dinner he likes to come and sit in my lap and finish eating that way.

He likes to scribble a bit and read a bit, but mostly trains.  And Seth – he has really latched onto Seth the last week or so.  And he wants to hold Seth’s hand and have Seth follow him – to play, to the bath, to eat, etc.  He wants to do everything that Seth does and it is SO cute.  He even was trying to pee standing up like the boys do – though I don’t think he gets that their peeing, but by golly, he’s going to stand in front of the potty and push his clothes around because that is what the big boys do.

Logan is starting to develop his compassion and when his brothers or parents are sad, he will go over and hug them a lot and kiss them.  It’s very sweet.

Fun Things This Month

- JAPAN – many many blog posts later, need I say more.

- Dentist appt.  No fun, but Logan sat and cried while they cleaned his teeth.  One step forward.

- Concert at library.  Logan danced away while the rest of the jet lagged family fell asleep.

- Puppet show at library.  Logan was pretty interested, but too timid to sit up front with Andrew and Seth.

- Butterfly house.  Logan loved watching the butterflies flit by, but was a little scared of them.